
Wise Youngblood – Caroline
Genre: Classic Rock, 90s Rock, Alternative Rock
There’s a very thin dividing line between classic rock excess and indie-rock experimentalism. That line is, usually, made up of just how much the musicians writing the songs want to be liked and accepted by a potential audience. Based on how well they answer, they can choose to alter their sounds, style and philosophy to either draw an audience nearer and push further away.
If you’re into the cool, alternative rock heroes you may feel like you know where your allegiance lies. However, things may not be as clearly cut-and-dried as you may think. Kurt Cobain began admiring Aerosmith. Lou Reed wanted to write radio jingles initially. And, the Cult, long before their days of Rock God posturing, were the pick of the litter in an evolving post-goth scene.
Wise Youngblood’s Caroline takes inspiration from Ian Astbury faux-mysticism and imbues it with the kind of songwriting tricks that radio loves to sink its teeth in. The result is a pleasant, thrilling rock single that swings, sways and rocks.
Black Coast – Stranger’s Skin
Genre: Screamo / Post-Hardcore, Metalcore, Grunge
You might have seen the memes about rejoicing to hear Alice In Chains or Deftones as a kid, merely to realize many years later the serious topics with which their songs dealt. True as that may be for a lot of people who grew up on this typeof music, I tend to think that the success of groups like this, writing about grown-up subjects, is a testament not only to their quality but to the overall intelligence of their long standing fans.
I imagine that when pitching a single, a movie, or a TV pilot, the idea is to get your financiers to feel at ease, and entertained. Sure, comedies sell. But, not for a long time. In fact, the majority of the works that have survived deal with universal topics that are not love. They deal with hardship, depression, and inner turbulence. Bands like Alice In Chains were the modern equivalent of the blues.
Their version of the blues, like Black Coast on their robust single Stranger’s Skin, was wrapped in distorted guitars and the kind of singing that resemble the ceremonies of madman, or a mystic. It may all sound like a tall order, but Black Coast’s greatest gift is that of drawing you in, and keeping you interested once there.